I bet you think I forgot my knitting

Sixty miles west of the coast of Oregon on September 29th, sunrise slipped up shyly. It was cold outside, and I was naked, so I just put the lens of the camera against the glass door. Kind of a fun effect.





We have breakfast delivered to the room (free) eat in bed, nap, finally rise to put on our swimsuits and go up to the thermal spa where we bask like lizards on hot rocks, enjoy a stint in the eucalyptus steam room, a cool down in the rainforest shower, a soak in the mineral pool, then went back to the room where we fnally get dressed and head out for lunch. After we have dined, we pick up my knitting, and take it on a tour of the ship. You can come too.






The atrium is the center of the ship where the main desk and central offices are located. Comfortable couches and elegant appointments are arranged conveniently. The knitting had a chance to frolic with nymphs. (the blonde SIL adores flamingo pink. I am making a cotton sweater for her. Knit from side to side through the body to make vertical stripes, then with sleeves and shoulders added afterwards to make horizontal stripes.)

The knitting caught some rays by the pool on the Lido deck. there is a roof that can be slid over the pool so swimming is possible even on the coolest days.

Then DH and the knitting lounged on the bed in our cabin to watch a movie on the TV.

The cabins are smaller than a motel room - just barely wider than the bed is long. There's about 24 inches of space to edge past the foot of the bed, then a small love seat on one side, a little desk with mirror and TV on the other. A tiny bathroom. You could soak your feet in the tub while sitting on the toilet. Three shallow closets. Very little storage space. BUT - how much time are you going to spend in the room?

The ship's tour concludes with a lazy sprawl on our own private veranda. On the Caribbean cruises, I pretty much live on the veranda, but it's just too chilly out there right now. Even with a sweater, and a blanket over my legs, the breeze of our passage burrows into my bones in about half an hour.

Dinner time, we left the knitting in the room and went to the Pinnacle room for a special date. The furniture is fanciful, the china is by Bulgari, the crystal is the thinnest I have ever handled, and the service is old-school superb!

They even do a flaming baked Alaska!

Usually we have our meals in the dining room, but DH thought we ought to have one special, special, special treat as long as we were indulging ourselves.

Finally, back to the room where our steward has left a little towel origami for our amusement. (The eyes are little chocolates that would otherwise have gone on the pillows)
At 9 PM of the 29th, the internet service went south without us. There was no connection untill after five PM the next day. I couldn't blog or check e-mail but these things happen. We went up to the media services desk to find out what was happening, and got in line behnd a bunch of rich old tycoons who demanded that the IT specialist fix it all right now. So when I got my chance to talk to her, after hearing her explain repeatedly that it was a satelite connection problem and the experts were working their hardest to fix it, I said to her, "I expect you to transcend the laws of physics, time and space, and personally ensure that I can check my e-mail because, as a guest of Holland America, I am entitled to miracles. " She looked blankly at me a moment, glanced around at all the pompous curmudgeons around us, then nearly imploded trying to suppress her laughter. she needed every chuckle she could get yesterday.

It was a surreal, suspended sort of day. A day at sea with lots of fog. A smooth gray ocean disappearing into a fuzzy gray mist. Back to the thermal spa and more basking on the hot rocks. When I need a meditative image, I will go back to that experience with serene flute music and the sound of running water in the background, total physical comfort, a hint of eucalyptus in the air, and the view through the floor to ceiling windows showing silver and gray.

Today, we have full sunshine, and we are anchorinf off Santa Catalina Island, then using the lifeboats to tender passengers in to the dock. Tomorrow (oh it hurts to say it) DH and I disembark in San Diego. But today, we play in the sunshine!!

My traveling knitting is some "Knit for the cure" cotton. My DH's sister adores flamingo pink, so I am making her a cardigan. Vertical stripes for the body, horizontal stripes for the sleeves. skein after skein of stockinette.